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OBT THE 



POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES 



IN RELATION TO THE 



WAR BETWEEN SPAIN AND HER COLONIES. 



FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, 181f. 









Opinionum commenta delet die9, 
tmliirse judicia confirmat ClG, 



WASHINGTON CITY, 

1818. 









***% f ,&?'<*)* 



THE object of the following Essays is to enquire how far it 
pay be consistent with sound policy for the United States to take any 
part in the contest now subsisting between Spain and her Colonies in 
this quarter of the globe. 

This question, from many peculiar circumstances, presents itself to 
us North Americans, associated with feelings capable of diverting our 
judgments from a true decision upon its merits. 

In judging of the chances for the establishment of free forms of gov- 
ernment in remote scenes, we are too apt to proceed on conceptions 
drawn from our own predilections for liberty, or on our sense of its 
general expediency. Instead of doing this, we should consider the 
character of those who are engaged in any contest ibr the government, 
which may arise in any given territory, and we should make all due 
allowances for the force of habit, which is every where so powerful, 
that much will, in every case, depend upon the previous manners and 
institutions of the country. 

It is a fact, attested by all history, that political happiness, (that is 
to say, liberty) is no less difficult of attainment, than necessary to the 
well-being of society. 

Upon this ground, when we consider that our southern namesakes, 
from previously existing circumstances, have been but ill prepared for 
their political emancipation, we may naturally suppose, however un- 
welcome the conclusion, that they are not likely to accomplish it speed- 
ily; when we view, too, the relative position in which they stand to 
each other and to the parent state, as well as her position in relation, 
with the other powers of Europe, we must be brought, I think, to the 
conclusion, that the period of their independence m^y yet be fajL* 
distant. 

If it be admitted, that great doubts exist as to any of the South 
American colonies maintaining their independence (and still greater 
doubts certainly exist of their becoming free states) at this time, what 
madness would it be for us in any way to commit our neutrality, and to 
furnish a pretext for our enemies to " cry havoc, and let slip the dogs 
of war." 

But we shall be told, that Spain has given us abundant provocation? 
that she has withheld just indemnities due to our citizens; that she 
has advanced unfounded pretensions on the subject of boundary; and 
the catalogue of well founded complaints may be eked out by some fic- 
titious items, and embellished with a dissertation upon the embroider- 
ed petticoat of the virgin, or a stale invective against the horrors of 
the Inquisition. 

To all this, the pertinent answer is, that the door of negociation is 
yet open; that we should do nothing which would close it against us 
so long as there shall remain any probability of a successful issue; 
that, in all events, we should abstain from meddling in that with which 
we have no concern; and that, if after exhausting the cup of concilia- 
tion, we should be driven to the last resort of nations, we may then, 
with full confidence, appeal to the justice of our cause and to the God 
of battle. 

March io, 1818, 



"No. I. — Thursday, October 30, 



TO THI EDITORS OF THE JTATIONAX INTELIIGEITCER : 

THERE are questions which may safely be left to the 
ipse dixit of any paragraphia who may ehuse to discuss them — where 
the negative or affirmative decision cannot affeet any of the great and 
important interests of the society in which we live, But when the most 
praise-worthy prepossessions of that, society (even those in favor of li- 
berty) are sought to be worked upon by wily politicians, to the mani- 
fest endangerment of its essential interests, it becomes every good citi- 
zen who detects, to point out the plot. 

A series of essays has been addressed to Mr. Clay, and republished 
from the Richmond Enquirer in your columns, and has in this way 
obtained an extensive circulation. The author, in addressing his 
lucubrations to that gentleman, probably thought to give himself the 
air at least, of being countenanced by him, and has sought by the 
" impress" to give currency to his coin. It would be doing signal 
injustice to Mr. C. to suffer ourselves to believe for a moment that 
his opinions are in unison with those expressed by that writer; such 
opinions could not certainly be considered by soond thinkers as very 
consistent with the statesmanlike character for which he has obtain- 
ed credit with the public. 

I believe J shall not risk a contradiction when I assert that the peo- 
ple of the United States are not yet tired of the peace which they 
but of late so gloriously won — that they are now enjoying a degree 
of prosperity unexampled, and which bids fair to enable them to leave 
a richer inheritance to their posterity than has ever yet been (he lot 
of raun. Now, it must be evident to every reflecting mind, that our 
best chance of preserving our free institutions, under favor of which 
we reap this harvest of blessings, rests upon our sedulous cultivation 
of the arts of peace at home, and our strict observance of the public 
faith, which guards that peace abroad ; it should surely satisfy a 
just ambition to have succeeded in establishing the seat of Justice, 
with her even scale, upon our own territory. 

Shall we then, reckless of cost and consequences, put the whole 
fabric of our own liberties at stake, and embark in a crusade for the 
liberties of the human race, or any portion of it, without seeing a 
rational probability of succeeding in the attempt ? 8ueh is the question 
substantially proposed in the Essays of Lautaro, which come recom- 
mended to us ! y the name of Mr. Clay, and by their insertion in the 
National Inteiligeneer. 

Such is one smong the subjects which ynu anticipate as likely to occu- 
py the d liberations of the mxt Congress, even should it not be among 
those coming before them with the authority of a Presidential commu- 
nication. 

The liberty of South America is indeed a theme well fitted for 
the declamation 6f the demagogues of the day, admirably suited to the 
display of the oratory of our would-be Demostheneses and Ciceros. 
On such a subject tliey will be sure to find in the sympathies of their 
audiences (and those too among the noblest sympathies of our na- 



5 

ture) that which will gain them a willing hearing, and redound 
peradventure to the good of the speaker, (a circumstance not to be 
lost sight of.) But it behoves the, patriotic citizen of these states 
(who cannot be a cosmopolite) to enquire, in the first place, how their 
interests will be affected by any steps taken relative to the question of 
South American Independence — how far existing engagements with 
nations in amity with us may dictate neutrality in cases of civil war- 
how far our professed principles of non-interferenee with foreign na- 
tions, in questions of internal government, may forbid our interposing ; 
and, going a step farther, he might examine to what degree that in- 
terposition would be effective, after he had satisfied himself that it 
might be afforded consistently with our own interest and honor. 

But, passing over all other considerations, I shall content myself 
"with barely touching upon one or two matters which stare us in the 
face, upon the very threshold of the subject. 

In the first, place, then, I assert that the fate of the Spanish colon- 
ies is by no means dependent upon us, although it may be in some 
degree affected by the course, of policy we may pursue. The countries 
occupied by Spaniards and their descendants, in the two Americas, 
are so vast in territory, population, and resources, as to set at nought 
any direct effort we could possibly make for or against them, liar 
example, indeed, (and, by the bye, a high responsibility thereto at- 
taches) may produee the happiest effects not only upon them, but 
upon human affairs generally. But the emancipation of the Spanish 
colonies must depend upon the efforts the people of those countries 
themselves may make. It has been truly said, that a great people, to 
be free, have only to will it. In the case we are considering, the 
efforts of the parent state are not likely to be very vigorous or per- 
severing, if they are met by a determined resistance. But nothing \vc 
have hitherto seen induces a belief that there is any union of interest 
and action between the several portions of those vast countries which 
appear to have been agitated. The feebleness of the government of 
the parent state, and its total extinction during some years past, lias, 
in many instances, tempted daring spirits, many of whom are mere 
fortune-hunting foreigners, to raise troops of freebooters, who, with 
the words liberty and equality in their mouths, have put whole dis- 
tricts and provinces under contribution — besieged and taken cities — 
reducing to submission all that did not acknowledge their favorite 
military chieftain in preference to his rivals ; many of v>hom have, 
in turn, put down each other : and this strife has been so long con- 
tinued in those parts where it has prevailed, that the population of 
the country has been very much redueed, and the cultivation of it is 
almost abandoned. This has been particularly the case in Caracas 
and Venezuela With regard to Mexico, it appears to be ascertained 
that the internal provinces (and particularly the capital, which con- 
tains so great a proportion of the population,) have never been sha- 
ken by revolt, and now run no risk from the petty war waged on the 
borders adjoining tht-se states. From Buenos Ayres, where the 
revolutionary movements had their earliest beginnings, and have 
attained their greatest developement, the news now is, that they have 
sent ambassadors to Europe, suing for a Prince to be furnished them, 
either by Spain or Austria ; but a Prince they must have of legiti- 
mate birth. These are the people for whose benefit the free slates 
of America are to forego the blessings «f peace , for whom, without 
enquiring whether they desire it, we are to throw the gauntlet to all 



6 

Europe. For, though it is not to be denied that all Europe, (except 
the Peninsula) as well as the United States of America, have a di«? 
rect interest in the independence of the colonies of Spain, as the only 
means of securing a free trade to them ; yet, from considerations 
foreign to our present subject, it is highly probable that all Europe 
will unite in discountenancing, if not in actually putting down, at the 
present time, the South American insurgents. Under other circum- 
stances, and under other auspices, when, at some future time, the 
people of those countries (having acquired the capacity and desire of 
freedom) shall will to be free, a gracious Providence will not leave 
them without the means of achieving their liberty. 

One highly important consideration I am anxious to impress upon 
my countrymen, is the necessity of adopting the alternative, as the only 
course of conduct befitting an honorable and high-minded people, of 
either taking an open part in favor of the revolters, or of abstaining 
scrupulously from all acts tending to aid or abet them, forbidden by 
our own laws or the laws of nations. A Prince has said, that if 
truth were banished from the earth, she should find an asylum in the 
breast of Princes. Let our pride, as Republicans, induce us to show 
the world, by our practice, that the faith of treaties is no where more 
strictly observed than under the laws of our republic. If our exist- 
ing laws are insufficient to insure the performance of the strictest du- 
ties of neutrality, in the present disturbed state of our neighbors, the 
Fifteenth Congress will not fail to follow up the example of its pre- 
decessor in providing remedial acts : in the mean time, let the public 
authorities perform their parts faithfully, and look to the strict en- 
forcements of the laws in existence. 

As you, Messrs. Printers, have given the essays of" Lautaro," an 
insertion " in extenso," it is presumed that you will show your impar- 
tiality by giving a column to the sentiments of 

A NORTH AMERICAN, 



No. II.— Monday, November 20. 

TO THE EDITORS OF THE NATIONAL INTF.1EIKENCER : 

I HAVE remarked with much satisfaction the tone of mo- 
deration which you have adopted in your editorial paragraphs upon 
a subject which at present seems to mislead the judgment of some of 
our fellow citizens. I allude to the contest between Spain and her 
colonies. It cannot be considered surprising that our sympathies 
should be strongly engaged in favor of a people, who, like ourselves, 
(as we are told) are prepared to make every sacrifice for the attain- 
mentof the blessings of self-government. We should indeed be cold 
and insensible not to take a lively interest in a struggle which wo 
are led to suppose resembles that which, in the memory of many per- 
sons now living, we ourselves had with our parent state ; we natural- 
ly wish it all the success which attended our own ease ; this is the 
sentiment which must animate every generous bosom ; but it behoves 
us, in a matter of much importance, to endeavor to form a calm and 



dispassionate opinion ; and if we will be at the pains to enquire, and 
examine into facts, and the reasonings deducible from them, we shall 
perhaps discover very few points of resemblance, either in the past, 
in the present, or in the probable future condition of those countries 
with our own. 

It will not be risking too much to assert, that the Spanish colonists 
of South America are quite as remote from us in habits and opinions, 
as they are in geographical position : they differ more in their po- 
litical and mitral condition from the people of these once British co- 
lonies, than Spaniards do from Englishmen. The religious and politi- 
cal feelings, and of course the views of these very opposite descriptions 
of persons being widely different, there is the highest degree of pro- 
bability that, when left free to act for themselves, their line of con- 
duct would in all cases be equally so. The inhabitants of the British 
colonies had been always accustomed to enjoy free forms of govern- 
ment, and their resistance to the parent state was grounded upon op- 
position to the first attempt which was made to introduce an arbitra- 
ry system of taxation : our revolution was therefore founded upon 
principle, (a) The Spanish colonists have been always habituated to 
arbitrary rule, and their revolt has grown out of circumstances : 
nothing like principle appears to have actuated them from the ori- 
gin of their commotions down to the present time. As our separation 
from the parent state has been followed by the establishment of a 
free confederated government, so it is probable that theirs (whenever 
it shall happen) will be succeeded by the establishment of separate 
sovereignties of a more or less despotic character. A short sketch off 
the troubles which have pervaded those countries may serve to illus- 
trate my position. 

It was in the month of April of the year 1808, that the royal fa- 
mily of Spain was decoyed to Bayonne by Bonaparte, who then placed 
the crown (so unfairly obtained) upon the head of his brother Joseph. 
Old Spain immediately became the theatre of a most bloody contest 
for the government, and Spanish America, as was to be expected, expe- 
rienced the most violent convulsions. " Various hostile juntas, clash- 
ing Congresses, and rival chiefs, started up in every province. Some 
(and they were the majority) acknowledged Ferdinand (really or 
nominally) ; some (very few) were inclined to France. Some were 
royaligts, some republicans ; some were for cortez, some for regency, 
some for confederation and union, and some for separation and dis- 
tinct dominion. Even within each of the provinces, there was dis- 
cord and division, theyagreed neither with themselves nor with each 
other, there was no particular, far less any general plan. The coun- 
try presented an universal and regular anarchy." Such is the gene- 
ral outline of the picture given by a South American, who, though 
favorable to the insurgent cause, makes his statement with apparent 
eandour. It appears from his account that the insurgents fought 
as much among themselves as against the mother country. This 
state of confusion has at some points been continued beyond the period 
of the restoration of Ferdinand the Seventh to the throne of Spain, 
only because that misguided monarch has failed to take wise and 

(a) The American Kevolution commenced in a struggle for the maintenance of 
civil rights, which being pertinaciously withheld, it eventuated in the Declaration 
of Independence as the only means of securing them. The persons who threw over- 
board the tea at Boston quay, to prevent the duties being naid, had no forecast of 
separation from the parent state. 



prudeni me&siires which would have infallibly restored order and re- 
conciled the provinces to the mother country ; for, although it is admit- 
ted that the colonies have abundant reason for complaint, from the 
existence of numerous grievances, some of which may be susceptible 
of redress, but many more of which are inseparable from a state of 
dependence upon a distant government, yet all these grievances, taken 
together.; are perhaps less intolerable than the continuance of the 
civil broils which have divided and armed the colonists for their mu- 
tual destruction 

It is very difficult to ascertain the precise present state of affairs^ 
in every part of those vast regions. So far as I am able to collect 
information, the general result appears to be, that, although prudent 
and conciliatory measures huve not been adopted in the extent to be 
desired, yet the insurgent provinces have been almost entirely indu- 
ced to submit to the royal authorities, with the exception of those of 
the river Plate. In Mexico little seems to be feared from the enter- 
prise of Mina. {b) The vice royalty of New Grenada (once in open 
revolt) is entirely subdued and pacified; it is only in some part of the 
Gaptai '-generalship of Venezuela, (say in Cumaua, in the island of 
Margixntta and the neighborhood of the mouth of the Orinoco,) that 
the insurgents appear to continue in any force An indulto or amnes- 
ty has been lately proclaimed, and the roya'ist General Morillo has 
obtained some decisive advantages in the same quarter, which will 
probably lead to the entire subjugation of that part of the Spanish 
domain, which continues convuised, but which never, from its popula- 
tion, could have been capable alone of resisting the Spanish power. The 
provinces of the river Plats which have declared their independence, 
appear to acknowledge the authority of a person of the name of Pueyr- 
redon, who has obtained the supreme power by a severe struggle, 
and Vis even carried his victorious arms into the neighboring province 
of Chili, where a certain Barnard O'Higgins has been proclaimed 
Supreme Director. (c) 

Such has been so far the issue of a contest, in which all parties have 

(b) Authentic accounts, received subsequent to the date of this Essay, state that 
this brave, but unfortunate officer, was captured by the royalists, and had been 

shot as a traitor upon the Hill of Bellaco, near — in Mexico, by the orders 

of the Viceroy, Don Juan Luis de Apodaca, on the eleventh November, seven days 
prior to the date of this Essay. It is also stated, that his principal followers had been, 
at the same time, either killed or made prisoners; the war may, therefore, be con- 
sidered as over in thai quarter. It seems certain that Mexico is as tranquil as Virginia. 

(c) Extract of a letter from an \mer can in Buenos Ayres to a gentleman in Bal- 
timore, dated October 17, 1817 :— " Chili, we all know, has been conquered from 
the royalists by a republican army under General San Martin from this place, 
who, from his situation, had the power, and exercised it, to place in/the chair of state 
a man, though a native of Chili, whose political opinions he knew could always be 
made subservient to the views of this government. It can, therefore, be looked 
upon in no other light than that of a colony governed by a delegate from this :>ro~ 
vince. This accounts for the f equent conspiracies that are made against the rul- 
ing party, as weli as for the impoverished and unsettled state of it, which is caused 
by the large military force that it is found expedient to maintain to keep down 
the spirit of affection that is constantly anifesved for he Cahrera party. " 

Another letter (.if October 7ih, states, that — " More than eighty persons of the 
first distinction n Chili had been seized by the military and thrown into dungeons 
on the ground of attachment to General Carrera. The treasures of Chili are ex- 
hausted by contributions to Buenos \yres, and the people of Chili are experk-ncing- 
benefits of that kind of ddlivcruti.ee from the royal Spaniards by O'liiggin: and the 
army of Buenos Ayres, that France has experienced under the Bourbons, support- 
ed by the armies of Wellington and Alexander." 



9 

^vaged a "guerra a muerte," a war of extermination, giving no quar- 
ter, and frequently scaring neither sex nor age; a system of proscrip- 
tion and confiscation has invariably prevailed, which ever way victory 
has inclined ; several Hundred thousand lives have been sacrificed, and 
acts of horror and atrocity have been perpetrated which will leave 
an everlasting stain on mankind. What resemblance does any por- 
tion of this history bear to that of the origin, progress, and termination 
of our own revolution ? Is it in the proclamations and constitutions 
promulgated by Miranda in Venezuela ? But these proved so^littleto 
the taste of the people, that he was quickly denounced and abandoned 
to the vengeance of Spain. Is it in the form of government, or in the 
practice adopted by the United Provinces of the river Plate, of which 
we have an illustration under the signature of the redoubtable su- 
preme Director Puerreydon ? 

An answer to this question may be drawn from your columns, Messrs; 
Editors, which have but lately furnished an exposition of the af- 
fairs of these provinces, prefaced by a suitable introduction, and at- 
tempt to explain one glaring act of despotism which had (so unluckily 
for these pretended republicans and their friends) come to the know- 
ledge of the North American public. With all the prepossessions of 
that public in favor of liberty and her votaries, it would require better 
evidence than has been adduced to persuade us that the end would 
justify the means. Neither is it, we are to hope, by a well turned 
compliment to the Chief Magistrate of this Union, that he can be in- 
duced to regard favorably a cause supported by such measures, and 
to take it under bis special care and protection. Fortunately, we have 
in his character ample security that it would require a more potent 
spell than can be raised by personal flattery, to lead him to recom- 
mend a step which might embroil his country with Spain, and per- 
haps with other powers, for the empty "honor" of the early i( recogni- 
tion" of this pretended republic of the River Plate. If the new state 
should be able to maintain its independence, (for freedom appeals to 
foe out of the question) as there is every prospect at present that it will 
be capable of doing, unless its own dissentions or the treachery of its 
leaders should place it again under the yoke of the metropolis, 
there is nothing to hinder us from enjoying the benefits of trade with 
its inhabitants, and continuing to receive its flag in our ports ashere.- 
tofore, until itmay be perfectly safe (and useful to us) to acknowledge 
its independence. But, in the name of common sense and prudence, 
let us abstain from any act which may commit our neutrality, and, 
above all things, let us preserve the sanctity of engagements already 
contracted. 

PHOCION. 



No. Ill, — Monday, December 1 . 

to the editors OF the national intelligencer : 

YOUR prompt insertion of my last communication encourages 
me again to address you upon the same subject. I have stated, that 
some parts only of the captain-generalship of Caraccas continued 
convulsed, while the whole province, from its trifling population, 
even before it had been wasted by war, could not be considered ca- 
pable of resisting the Spanish power. 1 have waited some little 
2 



10 

tings to see whether persons so disposed, and having information 
which I do not possess, would controvert my statement upon this all 
important point:. I meant to assert that the insurgent cause is now re- 
duced to a very narrow point in that part of South America ; that only 
some portion of the government of Caraecas (namely, part or the whole 
of Guayana, (d) a siekly,thinly peopled province, and the sterile island 
of Margaritta) continue convulsed, while the whole force of the popu- 
lation of that government is insufficient to resist the Spanish poweiv 
and the provinces of Buenos Ayres are too remote, and too intent 
upon objects exclusively their own 7 to afford assistance to this part 
of South America. 

In taking up my pen to throw my thoughts upon paper, it was- 
more with a view to excite impartial discussion upon a subject which 
has hitherto received but little elucidation from the frothy declamation^ 
the crude effusions, and (I am afraid in some instances) the stu- 
died misrepresentations of the press, than to impart my own im- 
pressions. If I am mistaken in my statement of facts, I cull 
upon those who; may be better informed to; make theirs. I shall 
retract my errors without reluctance, when they are pointed ouL 
My only object is to- produce such a discussion as may serve to en- 
lighten the public miad, and at the same time to regulate the public 
feeling, which cannot hut be all^ alive upon, th* subject of the liberty 
of a neighboring continent. 

The great majority of the American people consists, as you well 
know, Messrs. Editors, of sincere and enthusiastic republicans, ready 
to tender the hand of fellowship to any people worthy and capable of 
adopting the. only form of government which reason avows : but we 
are not a society of Propagandists^ making it our business to send 
missionaries through the world to preach up the true political faith, 
and believing it lawful to break engagements with all who ar-e out 
of the pale of our political church. We do not set up for reformers 
cf the governments of the earth; no, gentlemen, such is not the character 
of the American people. We cling to our political institutions with all 
the ardour they are calculated to inspire ; but, when we look abroad 
upon the nations, we feel that we owe nothing to the rest of mankind 
hut our good will; nay, mo re,, we know that we have no right to in- 
terfere with them in matters of internal concernment; we render to 
others what we should exact for ourselves.. Among the most precious 
of the natural rights of man, is the right of the majority, in every 
political association, to decide for itself in adopting such form of go- 
vernment as it may deem most fitting to promote its happiness and 
prosperity. Habit and prejudice may warp the decision, but it can 
never be rightfully our function to reverse it. The fact of the exis- 
tence of a foreign government, should be to us the evidence, of the 
approval and veneration of the great body of the people submitting- 
to it. To force the nations to be free, is beyond our power, as it is 
beyond our right. 

I return again to my statement, because I believe it to be impor- 
tant to us at the present time to be enabled to ascertain what ration- 
al prospect may exist of the immediate emancipation of the Spanish 
colonies. If it ean be shown that any portion of the Spanish Main., 

(d) The population of Guayana and the whole Orinoco, according to the state- 
ment of Depons, (the best authority) did not amount to forty thousand pereonsox 
j ej-y color and race. 



11 

worthy of kh&name, and capable of maintaining the character of a/>*»s 
state, has been wrested from the gripe of tyranny; and farther, if it 
he shown, that it will ks advantageous to ns to open a diplomatic 
intercourse with il r I can have no objection.; oa the contrary, it would 
afford me satisfaction to reflect, that, perhaps, .the example of our 
happy country had conduced to the establishment of a new state 
upon equal and beneficent principles. But upon failure (of those 
who are evidently so anxious to have it believed) to show this, I shall 
continue to think, what I have already very strong reasons for believ- 
ing, to wit : that the ferment of the Spanish provinces, not having 
been .founded .ok principle, hut. having merely grown out of circum- 
stances, has nearly subsided, upon a change of those circumstances, and 
has been put down in a great measure by the dissentions of the colonists, 
und the misconduct of their leaders, with very trilling exertions on 
•the part of the mother country; and that, for some months past, the 
efforts of the exiled leaders of the late insurrections have been limit- 
ed to an endeavor to obtain a place of refuge for themselves and 
adherents, in the pestilential soil of Guayana, ,(uow inhabited chiefly 
by colored and black people, the white proprietors and planters hav- 
ing made their escape) or on the sterile rock of Margaritta, by means 
of (he aid of the.Wigands from St. Domingo (of which description were 
a great portion of the 2000 troops lately carried there by Botlivar i'roin 
Aiix-Cayes) If these leaders should be successful, by means of the re- 
volted slaves, and the aid of the black chiefs of Sl Domingo, in baf- 
fling the efforts of Spain to restore her authority, and that of the pro- 
prietors of the soU, still I do not think that the government of the 
United States couId r eonsistently with a sound policy, countenance the 
establishment of a giate of.that description in the neighborhood of their 
southern frontier. 

A questio.B, not immediately connected with (hat under discussion, 
although it assumes some color of connection with the insurgent cause, 
from the pretended commissioris under which its leaders act, is the 
, association of adventurers, renegadoes, and desperadoes, from the four 
corners of the earth, who, locating themselves in remote and secluded 
spots, as atGalvestown or Amelia, thfnee fit cut expeditions to cruise, 
ostensibly, against Spain, Portugal and France, hut in reality des- 
tined to act against the peaceful commerce of any flag whicn may 
fall under their power, and holding the deliberate purpose of subsisting 
themselves upon the plunder of those who have never ivjured them, ft 
would become this nation, as the first born of America, to constitute 
itself the protector of (he peace of its own seas, and to prevent the 
renewal of the scenes of horror which occurred when the bueanneers 
were suffered to infest the ocean, or, more latterly^ when Laiitte held 
Burr at aria. Upon the subject of these piratical posts I should, with- 
out hesitation, say to our government, ■■" suffer this abomination to 

Al- 



iisu iihl'j cms, iti crippling ,tu.e commei ee 01 coiuiueuiai ji.i.utipt:. 

The conduct of England, throughout the whole of the contest be- 
tween Spain and her colonies, has hecn governed exclusively (and 
justifiably too) by a view to her own interest. When she believed 
that Spain was likely to fall under the power of Bonaparte, she pre- 

(f) See this subject irpateil more al large horeaftej' in the seventh Es ;y. 



IS 

pared,, a great armament to aid in the emancipation of the Spanish 
colonies. Upoa a sudden tarn in the aspect of affairs upon the con- 
tinent of Europe, the destination of the same troops was changed, and 
Sir Arthur Wellesley (now Duke of Wellington) was landed in the 
peninsula to fight in the cause of old Spain. The language of the 
British ministers to the agents of the South American provinces was, 
of course, also changed, because they were then in close alliance with 
the mother country, the integrity of whose empire was considered 
essential to the success of the coalition against France'' Since the 
subjugation of that kingdom, or, as it is commonly called, the restora- 
tion of the Bourbons, England is reverting fast to her old feelings of 
jealousy of Spanish monopoly, from her desire of enjoying a free trade 
to the colonies, as a vent for her manufactures, and that she may ob- 
tain in return their raw materials, which are valuable to her, (and, in 
this respect, by the way, we shall find those same colonies our compe- 
titors in themarket both as buyers and sellers.) How far consider- 
ations of general policy may forbid Great Britain hereafter to interpose 
directly in the affairs of South America, is doubtful. If her continen- 
tal engagements would permit it, I should feel assured of her imme- 
diate and effectual interference, in fayor of the insurgents, but of the 
feeling above spoken of, there can be no room to doubt ; and in conse- 
quence of it, the munitions of war have been abundantly furnished to 
the insurgents by her connivance; and British officers have been per- 
mitted, if not encouraged, to join their standard., In the mean while, 
the privateering system, carried on under the flags of the revolted pro- 
vinces, essentially serves the interests of Great Britain in crippling 
the commerce of three of the principal European maritime states, and 
forces Spain herself to become tributary to the British flag, for the 
transportation of the precious metals from Peru and Mexico to Cadiz- 

The facts and reasonings above succinctly stated, make it abun- 
dantly clear, I think, that Great Britain, having a direct interest in 
the emancipation of the Spanish colonies, and not caring to appear 
herself an actress in the drama, must be desirous that we should play 
the cats-paw for her in pushing ourselves forward to acknowledge and 
patronize the insurgents, by which, if the main object should fail, she 
will at least obtain another great object, namely, the bringing us into 
disgrace in the opinion of the powers of the continent of Europe, 
placing us in the attitude of the abettors of rebellion, and causing us 
to bo viewed wiih distrust and suspicion by all those powers who are 
our natural allies, in a maritime point of view. 

Great Britain knows very well that we should gain very little by a 
free trade with the people of So;sth America, while she must gain im- 
mensely. They can give us no market for our tobaccos, our cottons 5 
or even for our bread stuffs; (f) and vve could not compete with her in 
their market for manufactures. It is then apparent we should be cer- 
tainly no great gainers by doing the dirty work of Great Britain. 

There is another view of this matter, pregnant with considerations 
of the highest importance to the peace and security of the union, (but 
especially of the states south of the Potomac,) which will form the 
subject of another communication. 

PHOCION. 

(/) The fact of Chili having through the past year supplied the Brasils with 
breadstuff's at a price far below that at which they can be sent from North Ameri- 
ca, is a confirmation ofthis opinion. 



13 

No. IV.— Monday, December 8. 

TO THE EDITORS OF THE XATIOSAt INTELLIGENCEH : 

IN a former paper I endeavored to show, that there is no 
moral conformity, or, in other words, that there is no religious or poli- 
tical congeniality between the South and North Americans : and thence 
I deduced as a consequence, which has at least some color of proba- 
bility, that their constitutions of government, whenever they shall be 
called (or see fit) to form any, will be widely different from ours. 

In one respecte, however, some of the South American communities 
are precisely similarly situated with the southern states of this Union, 
and their policy upon that point must affect our condition. They have 
admitted the slavery of the African race among the elements of their ci- 
vil institutions. It is computed that there are between six and seven 
hundred thousand negro slaves upon the Spanish Main(g). In this 
circumstance of their condition, then, there must be a common interest 
in both the continents, as well as in the interjacent West India Islands, 
where the cultivation is carried on by the same description of popu- 
lation. 

It is with great reluctance that I touch upon a subject full of diffi- 
culty — from the nature of the thing, and from the strong prejudices 
every where existing upon the question of domestic servitude. 

This is no time, however, to indulge the scruples of a false delicacy 
in the concealment of dangers, which, being understood, may possibly 
be averted by a wise policy. 

The present generation, in the entering upon the scene of life, found 
the system of negro slavery of ancient establishment throughout a 
great proportion of the southern and northern continents of America. 
Whatever unhappy effects may attend it, in the estimation of philan- 
thropy, it is undeniable, that a considerable portion of these countries 
must ever have remained uncultivated, and unreclaimed from the 
state of nature, affording shelter and sustenance only to wild beasts, 
but for the aid derived from the African race, possessing a fibre pecu- 
liarly adapted to resist great heat and moisture ; and it is equally cer- 
tain, that the same countries, thus converted into a soil most produc- 
tive of the necessaries and luxuries of life, and now supporting a nu- 
merous population, must revert to the original desart state, whenever 
that aid is withheld. 

I believe it will be admitted by all the friends of humanity (perhaps 
even by the enthusiastic "amis des noirs," from the knowledge ac- 
quired by the unfortunate issue of their experiment upon St. Do- 
mingo,) that measures tending to the emancipation of negroes should 
he only gradual, and proportioned to the moral improvement that may 
be visible among them, which may afford some security for their em- 
ploying themselves in a manner advantageous to the society of which 
they are members, and when also a perfect assurance can be felt of 
the personal safety of those whites, who would be obliged to remain 
among them. The example of the island above mentioned must never 
be out of our recollection. Shortly after the National Assembly of 
France had passed those decrees which destroyed St. Domingo (and 

(_5 p ) The number of people of color in some of the Spanish colonies was exceed- 
ingly small, but unhappily, in all those around the Gulph of Mexico or facing the 
United States, there is a very large proportion of such inhabitants ; in the provinces 
of Venezuela, they formed seven-tenths of the population. 



14 

iiave since given birth to the kingdom of Hayti) it was said by the 
Abbe Raynal, the Apostle of Liberty, " that more had been done than 
sound policy permitted, but nothing that humanity required." Events 
Slave but too fully confirmed the truth of the observation of the phi- 
losopher. St. Domingo was lost to France, and scenes of horror and 
of massacre, perpetrated upon the whites, have been realized, until 
then unheard of. It was then foretold, that this act of phtenzied 
Frenchmen would lead to the ultimate destruction of the domination 
of the whites in the Ameriean Archipelago, and, of course, that the 
peace and security of the neighboring continents, which are both alike 
owners of slaves, must be endangered. 

The North Americans must now no longer be suffered to slumber 
over these great interests ; they must be roused to a sense of dangers, 
which, without proper and timely precaution, are imminent. At any 
rate, those who have a personal concern in the question, must not be 
suffered to remain uninformed of the course events are taking upon 
the southern continent. They are, at this time, called to witness the 
fate of some of those who have stood in the relation of proprietors in 
the countries bordering upon the Carribean Sea, or rather near the 
mouths of theOronoco, and they will of course put the case to them- 
selves. 

The proportionate number of slaves to the general population was, 
in those countries, much smaller than in many of our states; and yet 
that part of the population has thrown a preponderating weight into 
the scale of the revolutionists, which will probably make the opposite 
one kick the beam in some instances. I now mean to allude to the 
province of Guayaua, which is represented as having fallen under the 
power of Bolivar, Paez, &e. The first named of these persons adopt- 
ed the policy of emancipation, as a means of strengthening himself in 
CiaraccaSi several years ago. That measure seems, however, for the 
time, to have operated against him; for he was driven out of that 
country, and obliged to take refuge with the black chiefs of Hayti; 
thence he has fitted out various expeditions, (h) and having latterly 
Sanded near the mouths of the Oronoco, at the head of 2000 brigands, 
he has so far succeeded in his plans as to have taken a place called Au- 
gustura, and, it is said, he is in possession of the surrounding country ; 
jndeed, so it would appear from a proclamation we have seen, calling 
upon the emigrant inhabitants to return to their possessions, which 
those who value their lives will be careful not to do, and their non-ad. 
kesion to his government will afford an ample pretext for confisca- 
tions, (i) We see that, in these operations, Hayti has furnished a 

(/») One of these expeditions fitted out at Aux Cayes, under Bolivar and Brion, in 
the latter part of March, 1816, landed at Margarita, and thence proceeded to Caru- 
pana and having' taken the town of Cumana, thence sailed again for Ocumare, be- 
tween La Guyra and Puerto Cabello. Here are many plantations of cocoa, sugar, in- 
digo, &c. cultivated by slaves. Immediately on landing Bolivar issued a proclamation, 
dated 6th July, 1816, giving liberty to the slaves, which, however, did not prevent 
his sustaining a severe defeat from the Spaniards, and being compelled to reimbark. 
— See Outlines of the Revolution, &c. 

(i) How far this judgment has proved true, may be seen from the following 
proclamation, which will serVe'toshow how these military chieftains oi'der matters 
when their plans succeed : 

LAW relative t® the division of national estate among all classes of the Republican 
Army of Venezuela. 
Simojt Bolivar — Supreme Chief of the Republic of Venezuela, &c. &c.&c. 

Considering that the first duty of the government is to recompence the services 
of the virtuous defenders of the republic, who generously sacrificed their lives and 



15 



most efficient aid, which has succeeded, being doubtless backed by 
the tempting offers of Bolivar to emancipate the slaves, and to level 
all distinctions of color. The government, (if it dsserves that name) 

fortunes for the freedom and happiness of their country, have sustained, and do 
sustain, the calamitous war of independence, insomuch that neither they nor their 
families possess the means of subsistence ; and considering that there exist, in the 
territories occupied by the arms of the republic, and in that which we are about to 
liberate, possessed at present by our enemies, great quantities of estate, belonging 
to Spanish and American royalists, which, conformably to the regulation and decree 
published on the third of September, of the present year, are to be sequestered and 
confiscated, I have decreed and do ordain as follows : 

Article 1. All landed and immoveable property which, according to the aforesaid 
decree and regulation, have been or are to be sequestered and confiscated, and 
which may not have been or cannot be alienated for the benefit of the national 
treasury, shall be allotted and adjudged to the generals, chiefs, officers and soldiers 
of the republic, on the terms expressed following. 

2. Grades of rank obtained in campaign, being an incontestable proof of the dif- 
ferent services rendered by each individual in the army, the apportionment of es- 
tates, spoken of in the preceding artie'e, shall be made to them in this maimer?? 

To a general in chief, twenty-five thousand dotta'rs, 

To a general of division^ twenty thousand, 

To a brigadier general, fifteen thousand, 

To a colonel, ten thousand, 

To a lieutenant colonel, nine thousand,, 

To a major, eight thousand, 

To a captain, six thousand, 

To a lieutenant, four thousand, 

To a sub-lieutenant, three thousand, 

To 1st and 2d serjeant, seven hundred, 

And to a soldier, five hundred. 
J. The officers, sergeants, corporals, or soldiers, who shall obtain promotion 
subsequently to the distribution, shall be entitled to claim the deficit, which may 
happen between the quantity they received, while exercising the previous em- 
ployment, and that which may have been ultimately conferred on them, and which 
they exercise at the time of the last distribution. 

4. It the computation made of the value of divisible property does not extend to 
all the objects, the government promise to supply the deficiency out of any other 
national property, and principally from the grants of uncultivated tracts. 

5. If before or after the distribution of estates, the government think proper to- 
reward the valor, service, or very distinguished conduct of a military man, it shall 
wave power to grant him any of the above-mentioned lands, &c. without being ob- 
liged in such case, to regard either the grade of the favored person, or the quantity 
which is to be conferred on him. 

6. In case of a soldier having deserved and obtained the premium, spoken of in the 
preceding article, he shall not have a right to claim the share assigned in art. 2, iti" 
the worth of the property which have been ceded to him, be greater than that of 
the quota assigned to his rank. 

7. When the distributive property considerably exceeds the value of the quotas 
assigned to the different ranks, the government shall take care that the partitions 
be effected in a mode most suitable to the interests of all. 

8. The division shall be made by a special commission, which shall be appointed 
for the occasion, and be subject to the regulation which shall be published for that; 
purpose. 

9. The government reserves the immediate direction of this commission. 

Let it be published and communicated to whom it may concerm, and a copy be 
directed to the chief of the general staff, that he may insert it in the order of the 
day, and have it circulated through all the divisions and corps of the army of the re- 
public, for their satisfaction. 

Given and signed with my hand, sealed with the provisional sea! 
oftUe republic, and countersigned by the undersigned se- 
cretary of the supreme government, at the head-quarters of 
St. Thomas' of NewGuayana, the 10th of October, 1817.— 
7th of the independence.- BQ1 .IV AK 

J.-G. Perkt, Secretary.- 



16 

to "be set up in that province, will be, probably, affiliated to that of 
Hayti ; and we may henceforth look for the most intimate co-opera- 
tion and co-ordination of plans between the two powers. Common 
interests must beget common feelings, and if the European powers, 
having possessions containing a slave population, and the United 
States, standing in the same relation, omit to take efficient measures 
of precaution, these new Barbary powers (fc) may shortly become 
formidable.? 

In this state of affairs, (and I believe the statement to be correct) 
what shall be thought of those politicians who, standing connected 
with a community, holding so deep a stake as the United States do, 
in the prosperity already sapped by these proceedings, should he ready 
to countenance, to encourage, nay, more, to patronize, a stats rising 
out of the ensanguined and smoking ruins of the. plantations of Guay- 
ana ? What of those who, deriving their subsistence, owing their con- 
dition in life, and many of them having drawn their first breaths in 
Virginia, the Carolina*, or Louisiana, and the kindred countries, 
should soar so far above the feelings of vulgar nature, as to say, Ho- 
sanna ! well done ! Can we refrain from repeating the exclamation of 
the poet, 

" vaiice hominulh mentes, O pectora cteca /" 

With all the caution we can use, there is abundant reason for ap- 
prehension ; as long as that former colony of France, Hayti, is suffer- 
ed to continue triumphant, so long will the whole system of dome&tifc 
policy of the south be in danger of being brought to that sudden and 
violent termination, which should be deprecated by all parties. It was 
from Hayti that were sent those missionaries of insurrection, who late- 
ly nearly caused the destruction of the colony of Barbadoes: that at- 
tempt terminated in the execution of several thousand of the unhappy 
revolters. It is not that the ultimate event upon this continent could 
be doubtful, or is it to be feared by the whites, except on account of 
the waste of human life, and the loss of so much productive labor ; we 
know that the race of whites is too numerous and too intelligent 
not to remain victorious in the contest ; but how will you replaee so 
many human beings, (and men are valuable upon our wide spread con- 
tinent ) as will probably be sacrificed in vain attempts to attain a con- 
dition they are not yet prepared for ? 

I have pointed out the source of danger: what course of policy may 
best secure us against it, must be worthy consideration. 

PHOCION. 

(fc) The following protest will show the nature of these new Barbary Powers, in 
the confiscation of un American ship and cargo, without even the appearance of any 
tegal formality : 

" We the undersigned, citizens of the United States of America, do declare, that 
personally appeared before us this day, Wm. F. Hill, master, Joseph Loates, mate, 
^xnd Israel Sheldon, supercargo, late of the American schooner Liberty, of Philadel- 
phia, who made the following declaration, viz. That the said schr. Liberty cleared 
and sailed from St. Pierre, Martinique, on the 18th of June last past, with a cargo 
on board, both in good order in every respect for a voyage, entered the river 
Oronoco, Spanish America, on the 26th of said month, bound for Augustura ; on 
the 5th July was boarded by six armed launches (about one hundred miles up the 
river) full of men, calling themselves patriots of Venezuela, who put on board of 
them a pilot and ordered them to accompany the launches down the river, after tak- 
ing three barrels bread, two and a half barrels beef and one keg butter ; and the se- 
venth July,having proceeded down the river, within about thirty miles of the mouth, 
in company with said Lunches, and having got aground,. we,re overtaken by 



17 



No. V. — Tuesday, December 16. 



TO THE EDITORS OF THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER : 

I PROCEED to some further considerations, which seem 
to me useful to our country at the present conjuucture. Utility is, in- 
deed, the only quality which can recommend truths So unwelcome as 
those 1 have ventured to present to my fellow citizens in formes- 
papers. It has been an ungrateful task to show, that a large portion 
of mankind, inhabiting the same quarter of the globe with ourselves, 
is so far unblessed, as to be disqualified at the present time for free gov- 
ernment. (I) Such is, however, the conviction upon my mind, and I 
have deemed it useful to offer my reasons, such as they are, for that 
conviction. The more the subject is sifted, the more evident it will 
appear, that the principles of rational liberty have made no progress 
in any of the vast regions of South America; which have been put into 

fifteen Spanish launches and canoes, who ordered them up again, the Spanish 
squadron then went in pursuit of the patriots, fought them, and in about four houra 
after returned to the schooner, took out the pilot, and three barrels flour, and then 
proceeded up the river ; on the eighth July, having no pilot on board the schr. and 
not knowing the way down this branch of the river, (Rio Grande) they having gone 
up another branch, the Rio Mataca, they proceeded up again ; on the tenth July 9 
having arrived near the junction of the two branches (Grande and Mataca) were 
met by two brigs and two schooners, armed, (with the schooner Tiger of Salem in 
company) commanded by a man calling himself Admiral Luis Brion, of the republic 
of Venezeula, (said to be a native of Curracoa) who immediately sent three men on 
board to take charge of the Liberty, and the next day almost entirely discharges 
her ; on the twentieth July, having arrived at a place called Point Cabrian, were 
ordered to leave their vessel, on two hours notice, and go on shore without any 
kind of covering, the place being perfectly wild and uninhabited, having their 
clothes registered, and their trunks and chests searched several times for money. 
The patriots immediately armed said schr. Liberty, and sent her in pursuit of a 
Spanish squadron evacuating Guayana. That on the eighth of iugust, were per- 
mitted to proceed to Guayana, where, after equivocating repeatedly respecting their 
intentions on the Liberty, the patriots transported them to Angostura, where they 
arrived on the tenth of September; on the twenty-second September, the said 
schooner Liberty was advertised to be sold at public auction by the patriots ; that 
the deponents being detained nearlv three months without any prospect of a legal 
trial or redress, and never informed for what reason they were detained until they 
advertised said schoonor Liberty for sale. The deponents have requested of us to 
certify to the above declaration, and which by our signatures we do hereby certify, 
and moreover, do declare, that we are personally knowing to most of the facts said 
to have taken place since the tenth of July, having been present. 

Signed in duplicate at Angostura, this twenty-fifth day of September, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and seventeen. 

Z. I. LA.MSON, 
D. F. TUCKER, 
Agent and Captain of the schooner Tiger, of Salem, Massachusetts, 
taken and condemned under the same pretext as the Liberty. 

The schooner Liberty belonged to John Coulter, Esq. of Philadelphia, and was 
taken and condemned under a pretended breaci. of blockade, although the Patriots 
never had a vessel before the Oronoco until the day of iheir entry into that river. 

(I) Their juntas at Caraccas and Carthagena only attempted to frame constitutions 
which, like those of the French convention, were never put in practice ; but all the 
juntas and nick-named Congresses, have delegated executive powers, not limited by 
any institution whatever, and embracing military and civil functions, giving birth, of 
course, to tyranny, and the consequent conspiracies, intrigues, and changes, with n 
more than usual proportion of horrors, arising from the heterogeneous CQinpo.J.tiou 
nf the population. 



18 

& state of ferment by the temporary extinction of the metropolitan 
power. 

Viewing the subject in this light, I can but lament that some of the 
ardent friends of freedom amongst ourselves, should be so blinded by 
their prepossessions in favor of every act which may wear the appear- 
ance of an advance in the road to liberty, as to forget utterly hoiv their 
own country may stand affected in relation to the common interests 
which exists between the two continents, and to approve of the subver- 
sion of order and subordination, when, in all human probability, no 
better etete is to arise out of anarchy and disorder than such despot- 
isms as ail uncivilized people are prone to submit to. 

Some friend, or agent, of the insurgent cause has undertaken, in the 
paper called the Aurora, under date of the 4th instant, to correct my 
statement of the actual situation of what may be called, with relation 
to the United States, the hitkerniost provinces on the Spanish Main. 
He declares, that " from Cape Vela to the mouths of the Orouoco, on 
an average breadth of one hundred leagues inland, the royal authori- 
ty holds not a field of cultivation, nor is one in the possession of a 
royalist, a few small possessions on the sea margin excepted, &e." I 
am willing to admit this may be true, (in) and it is probable tln.it the 
writer might have gone farther, with equal truth, and asserted that 
not one of the ancient proprietors, whether royalist or insurrectionist, 
possesses a field of cultivation in the same space. The emancipating 
system of Bolivar & Co. has put order and uniformity into that mat- 
ter : if cultivation is at all attended to, it is probably merely to satisfy 
the immediate cravings of nature, and is carried on principally by the 
remnant of colored and black population, who, surviving the wreck of 
life and fortune, which has swallowed up the greater part of the free 
population of the country, are left to be the alternate victims of the 
ferocious chiefs of Hayti and of Old Spain, (w) That portion of the 
eountry near the mouths of the Oronoco, from its position near the 
island of Trinidad, (the focus of insurrection) and from its climate, 
which is as a wall of defence around it against European troops, is 
snore particularly in this situation, and will probably hold out longest 
against the ancient authorities : it can be considered in no other light 
than as a new Hayti. 

If there could be any doubt respecting the unequivocal intention of 
the revolutionists upon the future condition of the Africau race, (a 
question with which the prosperity of the southern portion of this 
union has so intimate a connection) it must have vanished upon the 
publication of the exposition of their views in taking possession of 
Amelia: I refer my readers to the Aurora of the 5th instant, which 
accompanies this exposition by a compliment to the generous and be- 
nevolent South Americans, " who have made more noble advances in 
the cause of humanity than some of their elder brethren." This ex- 
position, and the accompanying remarks, speak a volume in justifica- 
tion of our occupation of that post, under whatever pretences the "pa- 

(m) We defy the writer of the paragraph to shew, in truth, that any part of the 
designated territory is in the possession of the insurgents, except Guayana and Mar- 
garitta. The merchants who send ships to that coast know this very well, though 
they do not write paragraphs. 

(?i) In the intercepted letters of Morillo, published in the Gazette of Buenos 
Ayres, he tells the Minister of War, that " in Venezuela, a considerable part of 
the white population has perished in the revolution," and that " the war is feroci- 
ous corns ik negvas a blanvos, as between blacks and whites." 



19 

triots" may have taken it. The vicinity of Louisiana and Georgia 
imperiously demanded that movement; which, however, was not made 
without our characteristic caution, nor indeed until long; after lively 
apprehensions had been excited, in the neighborhood, by the dangerous 
examples and doctrines h< Id out ihere. 

But since we are upon the subject of the extent of the countries oc 
cupied by the royalists and insurgents respectively, it will be as well 
to tak? up the map of the Spanish possessions, and make the calcula- 
tion throughout. It is certain, that the ultimate success of the one 
party or the other must depend upon the masses of population which 
can be put in motion on either part. We have above made what may 
he considered a very liberal admission, respecting the country situated 
upon the margin of the Caribbean Sea, insinuated by the Aurora to be 
in possession of the insurgents : the war, at all events, is seated in those 
parts. But, out of these territories, what province, what village, is 
held by the insurgents ? What is the condition of Mexico ? What of 
New Mexico ? What is the state of New Grenada? What of Quito ? 
What of Peru ? Throughout all this extent of country, from 85 de- 
grees of north latitude to 30 degrees south, a distance of near 4000 
geographical miles, civil war prevailed for years, during the long 
agony of the mother country ; the various factions, the different colors 
and castes of the inhabitants, have waged unceasing war against eaeh 
other; rivers of blood have been spilt by ignorant, bigotted and fero- 
cious men, who only saw in their adversaries objects of extermination $ 
the rights of humanity have been forgotten, where brutal force alone 
could prevail; but at last, wearied out with this worst of conditions, 
these countries have all returned to their ancient habits of obedience and 
subjection to the authorities of Old Spain. Farther in the South, indeed, 
the condition of Chili is doubtful; and in Buenos Ayres there is no doubt 
of the capacity of the country to maintain its independence, if it should 
seem good to its leaders so to do. That colony had learnt the secret 
of its strength from the invasion of the English, under general Whit- 
lock, repulsed with disgrace by the firmness end gallantry of the na- 
tives of the place, under the direction of Liniers, who was afterwards 
murdered for his adherence to the cause of the Bonapartean dynasty. 
In the state of utter abandonment in which the colony was left for 
years by the mother country, after great distractions and civil convul- 
sions, it has been found necessary to institute a government in the per- 
son of a Supreme Director ; or, to state the matter in more intelligible 
terms, it was found absolutely necessary to put down anarchy, by the 
appointment of a dictator, or civil and military chief, whose will is 
the law, and who is armed with all the powers of the state. In his. 
breast are deposited the future destinies of that portion of South 
America. Whether this new Monck may choose to effect a restora- 
tion of the Bourbons in the person of a prince taken from the Spanish 
or Portuguese branehes of that family, or whether he will rather 
choose to found a dynasty in his own person, are events yet hidden in 
the womb of time. 

Upon reviewing this history, it may well be asked, with surprise, 
whence can arise the sympathy so universally felt by us in the eause 
of oar southern neighbors ? Answer : It is because we feel that, if 
placed ourselves in their situation, we should certainly resist the ar- 
bitrary rule they are subjected to; but if we will reflect that their 
habits and manners are totally different from ours — that they always 
have submitted, aud probably will continue to submit, to a state of 



things which would be intolerable to us, with our habits of freedom— 
we shall not expect the same eauses to be followed by analogous ef- 
fects, (o) It would seem that tbe desire of effectuating a change in. 
their condition, has been confined, among themselves, in a great de- 
gree, to the enthusiastic, and to those of desperate fortune. The 
commotions exeited during the paralizt'd state of Old Spain have had, 
it would appear, no other object than the gratification of the mutual 
vengeance of different classes of men, and the exaltation or depression 
of particular chieftains. These troubles having been attended by the 
concomitant licentiousness naturally springing from such a state of 
things, this has served as an incitement to the profligate to join the 
standard' of insurrection: the hope, too, of partaking of a rich spoil, 
which has attracted adventurers even from beyond the Atlantic, must 
not be omitted in the catalogue of causes which hav° operated in 
filling the ranks of the insurgents The great mass of the population 
of the country, hoivever, has never received the moral impulsion 
which would be requisite to rouse, it from its wonted state of apathetic 
indifference to its rights. Upon this ground, there is no doubt in my 
mind of the entire pacification of those countries, whenever the govern- 
ment shall adopt the measures suggested by common sense and pru- 
dence, (p) How absurd, then, would it be for us to endanger our 
peace, or to forfeit our character for good f.;ith; one or other of which 
we must do, by meddling in affairs which are not, correctly speakings 



within our competency „ 



PHOCIONo 



No. YI.--Monday, November 3l« 



TO THE EDITORS OF THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER : 

I BEG leave to lay before your readers a few more considerations 
upon the subject of the condition of those parts of South America, 
which are now, or hav* latterly been, in a state of revolt; and of the 
propriety there might be in our involving ourselves in their quarrel. 
I have already stated it to be my wish to excite discussion on the 
subject, an? it will occasion no mortification to me, if, in the course of 
that discussion, it should be shown that I have been iu any degree 
mistaken, provided the truth be made to appear, which is my object. I 
may be misinformed as to facts; I may err in my reasoning, but my 
opinions have beea honestly expressed with a view to the utility I be- 
lieved derivable from them. I saw, or thought I saw some among my 
countrymen, who, in their laudable prepossessions in favor of liberty, 
had embraced opinions too favorable to the cause of the South Ameri- 

(o) In Major Stoddart's "Views of Louisiana, is a just picture of the feelings of 
Spaniards upon subjects of government ; it is worth referring to. 

(p) Or in '.It-fault of 'his, military despotisms will arise, which, from the nature of 
things, and the collision in political and commercial interests, will become the 
bitterest enemies of the United States. More of this hereafter. 



21 

cans to comport with the actual state of facts : these opinions in their 
consequences might have involved my country in a useless and ruth- 
less war. I have ventured to advance my own peculiar opinions, how- 
ever unpalatable they may be to the public appetite. Time, the test 
of truth, will ere loug disclose S:ow far 1 may have been right in my 
estimate of the capacity and relish of the South Americans for iiber- 
tyi at least for that sort of liberty which has been tendered to them. 
The cause of the insurgents has visibly decliried of iate, and now wears 
a less promising appearance than it did several years ago. This looks 
a little like a confirmation of the theory I advanced respecting thede~ 
Jiciency of the moral impulsion necessary to enable the mass of the 
population of those countries to acquire and preserve freedom. My 
business was to state matters of simple fact, as far as I was acquainted 
with them ; to depict men as they are in those climes, not as they ought 
to be ; how great soever ray desire that they should be otherwise than 
I must believe them to be. Theinterests of my own country demand- 
ed a" plain unvarnished tale," and that the subject should be sifted 
thoroughly, in order that mistaken impressions might be removed. 
This is the only answer Phocion can give to the diversified attempts 
made to distort his arguments into many o:eanings they never could be 
fairly inferred to bear. Who he may be, or who his adversaries may 
he, is equally a matter of perfect indifference with the public; its on- 
ly concern is with the strength or weakness of the arguments advanc- 
ed on either side; and the establishment of truth should be the only 
object with all parties. Having premised thus much, I will pursue my 
argument. 

1 closed my last communication Avith the remark, Low absurd it would 
be for the United States to endanger their peace by intermeddling in 
affairs which are not, strictly speaking, within their competency. In 
using this phraseology, I had special reference to the letter, as well as 
the whole spirit of our federal compact, which 1 am persuaded can in 
no way be fairly construed so as to justify a war entered into on our 
parts, not like the last, in vindication of our rights, but to acquire sim- 
ilar rights for foreign states or people: for such is the most plausible 
pretence upon which we are urged to recognise some of the new states, 
an act which might unquestionably place us in the relation of a belli- 
gerent with Spain. 

Admitting, however, for argument sake, that we are competent, un- 
der the powers derived from our federal compact, to wage wars, whe- 
ther of caprice or ambition ; I think, it is easily demonstrable that we 
have no inducement either in feeling or interest, to take part, whether 
by acknowledgment or otherwise, in the contest now subsisting be- 
tween Spain and some of her colonies. Upon tho first head (of feel- 
ing) 1 have endeavored to show that the South Americans have but 
small claims upon our sympathy. The question, so far as regards 
our interest, lies in a narrow compass, and resolves itself naturally 
into two heads of inquiry; (confining ourselves to the acknowledg- 
ment, with its necessary consequences) first, what advantages would 
the United States gain by the acknowledgment of any, or all of the 
new governments, if such there be, of South America ? Secondly, ivhnt 
do they risk by making the same acknowledgment? 

Upon the first point there is but little necessary to be said : the mes- 
sage if the President of the United Stutes, at the commencement of 
the present session, is sufficiently explicit, and has informed us " that 
should the colonies establish their independence, this government nei- 



ther seeks, nor would aeeept from them any advantages, in commerce 
or otherwise, which will not be equally open to all other nations." 
Now, if our practice should conform to tins doctrine, we shall not gain 
any advantage over other nations by the independence of the colonies: 
the necessary consequence is, then, that we can have no preponderat- 
ing interest to induce us to be precipitate in recognizing their inde- 
pendence. 

To the second point of inquiry, I think the obvious answer is, every 
thing : for, by acknowledging the independence of any one of the Spa- 
nish colonies, we place ourselves in the attitude of belligerents a- 
gainst the parent state, and make ourselves parties to the war; un- 
less we can suppose her weak aud foolish enough to put up with a om 
sididwar, of which she would have all the disadvantage. To make 
such a. supposition would be to disregard all calculation of rational 
probabilities. If, then, war should follow this acknowledgment, which 
the warm supporters of South American independence are so anxious 
to press upon us, will they take to themselves all the expenses of it? 
Or will the destruction of commerce, the waste of human life, and all 
the long catalogue of ills attendant upon war, be suffered to fall upoo 
the nation at large ? 

I shall not attempt to follow the subject through all its ramificat- 
ions, nor shall I enter far into a field so infinitely productive as thafe 
of our manifold risks in this case. It may be necessary, however, to 
lake a cursory view of some of the consequences of our becoming the 
chivalrous champions of South American independence. Old Spain s 
it is true, is not formidable as a maritime power ; but neither does she 
offer the same temptation to the cupidity of an enemy, as in former 
times, when her colonies were productive ; what she wauts in force 
would probably be supplied by alliances, either with Russia or with 
•other powers. At any rate the assumption of the Spanish flag would 
enable all the unemployed seamen of Europe, to prey upon our com- 
merce and carrying trade, which must be exposed to their depredation^ 
and particularly those of Great Britain; for it requires, I think, but 
little political sagacity to foresee, that she would, on no account, be 
induced to take part openly in sush a war, whatever other powers 
might do, the fate of whose colonial possessions must be involved in 
the issue of the contest; her naval and military force will always en- 
able her to secure her colonies from harm in all events. Her true inter- 
ests, in the case supposed, must be to reap all the advantages of a wise 
neutrality, while we should be madly running a muck from Cape 
Florida to Cape Horn. It would be difficult even to imagine a situa- 
tion more gratifying to the enemies of these United States, than that 
in which we should inevitably be placed by thus engaging in a war 
without any adequate objeet. 

In a former paper 1 slightly noticed the injury we should sustain by 
losing the good opinion and the good will of the maritime states 
of continental Europe. Our late war has established our reputation 
as a naval power in their estimation, or at least it has served to de- 
monstrate to them our capacity for becoming such. Already do they 
look to our rising marine force, as a most important counterpoise to 
the naval ascendancy of England, which is viewed by them with ex- 
treme jealousy and fear. Well are they aware, that "that ascendancy 
ean never be destroyed by any efforts originating in the ports of B urope, 
which can be so easily watched and blockaded by a power having a 
decided superiority in thosa seas. Our distauee from her eo'ast, an3 



S3 

numerous harbors, (along with all facilities for building, equipping, 
and manning ships, which we possess) must render it, from the uature 
of things, nearly impossible that she should exercise the same paraliz- 
ing power over our ports, which she does over those of Europe. These 
advantages of geographical position are peculiar to us, while the li- 
berty of the seas is an interest we have in common with all the minor 
maritime powers in the world. The natural alliance of the weak 
against the strong, is a bond of union that must bind us to them, as it 
does them to us, if we are not mutually blind to our true interests. 

As a proof that this continental feeling towards us has been alrea- 
dy in full operation, we may cite some striking circumstances attend- 
ing the negoeiationfor the late treaty of Ghent. The high pretentions 
advanced at first by the Commissioners of Great Britain are well re- 
collected. She had just put down her most formidable enemy, by 
force of amis, and had then the prospect of being able to turn her 
whole force against us. At the commencement of the Congress of 
Vienna, she demanded that none of the powers should interfere in her 
war with America. This was reluctantly conceded to her. The 
tone she then assumed in her negociation with us, must have convin- 
ced the members of that body, that she, did not intend to stop short of 
the utter annihilation of our maritime force, with perhaps a consider- 
able curtailment of our territorial possessions. The great object of 
the coalition having been attained in the annihilation of the continent- 
al power of Prance, a more natural state of feeling had began to pre- 
vail, and ideas began to be entertained of the necessity of restoring the 
balance of maritime power for the safety and prosperity of the conti- 
nent ; and the utility which might be derived from our aid to obtain 
that object, became, too, daily more evident. England, opposing the 
union of part of Saxony to Prussia, of Poland to Russia, and the pre- 
servasion of sonii of her conquests to France, the Emperor Alexander 
showed evident signs of displeasure with Lord Castlereagh's conduct, 
and broad hints were dropped of the intention of bringing iuto discus- 
sion the question of maritime rights, and conferences were set on foot, 
which terminated in a treaty betvveen the three powers, signed at 
Paris, 6th January, 1815. In the interim, Great Britain had sudden- 
ly fallen from her high pretensions in her negociation with America, 
and hurred the peace, which was signed at Ghent 24th December, 
1814, and was intended as a kind of extinguisher, clapped upon the 
rising demands (respecting neutral rights) of the powers of the con- 
tinent, who ; on their parts, reckoned upon England having, for a lou- 
ger time, upon her hands, the dead weight of our war. 

From these transactions we may perceive, that the powers of con- 
tinental Europe have already discerned the utility they may derive 
from us as an antagonist power to England, upon the element where 
she is most formidable. Sound policy, then, surely requires of us a se- 
dulous cultivation of the feelings of good will, which common inter- 
ests have given birth to, and we should avoid ail unnecessary causes 
of offence, which must work mutual injury. 

Now, is itnot to be apprehended that, by unadvisedly mingling our 
interests with those of a portion of mankind whose future condition is 
so doubtful as that of the, South American provinces ; and by thus 
heedlessly dissipating the resources we should reserve for some more 
necessary occasion, we shall forfeit, the character we have hitherto 
maintained for prudence and soberness of purpose, anil verify, in soma 
measure, the predictions of our enemies, in evincing that sve are acta* 



24 

ated by a hot and ungovernable ambition, from which the world will 
have more to fear than to hope ? 

Forbearing to urge the subject any farther at this time, I will leave 
it to the good sense of my countrymen to solve the following queries: 

Shall a nation, possessing an ample territory, with a happy exemp- 
tion from taxation, and with greater expectations of promoting its 
wealth and population, by peace, than any other upon the face of the 
globe, throw itself headlong into the unprofitable trade of war, from a 
childish impatience of obtaining for its neighbors what the lapse of a 
few years would probably bring without risk ? 

Shall this nation, laying aside the dictates of common prudence 9 
and giving the rein to her enthusiasm for liberty, (however unfounded 
her sympathies may be in the present ease) enter the lists against all 
opponents, as the champion of the rights of mankind throughout the 
globe ? 

For my own part, I should rather apprehend that the mad career of 
such an ambition must terminate in some catastrophe fatal to our- 
selves, than to indulge the slightest hope that it could be crowned 
with success. 

PHOCION. 



No, Mll—Saturtiay f February 1% 1818. 

TO THE EDITORS OF THE SATIOJfAI, INTE1ZIGEXCER : 

THERE is no circumstance of the present time which, 
in my view, presents a more sinister aspect, than the notorious fitting 
out, in our ports, of expeditions for military operations, whether by 
sea or land, in a season of profound peace. 

The nations of Europe had been engaged in almost universal war, 
with little intermission, for nearly a quarter of a century, when, of late, 
they succeeded, by unexampled exertions, in restoring peace to the 
trans -atlantie world. Our own war, which was one of necessary self- 
defence, and, therefore, just, has given lo the people of these United 
States a proper consciousness of their own power and resources, and 
has at the same time served to impress foreign nations with a higher 
degree of respect for us than they previously entertained. This agri- 
cultural and commercial nation has exhibited such brilliant proofs of 
its military and naval heroism, as leave no doubt upon the minds of 
any, of its capacity and determination to maintain and vindicate its 
rights, whensoever and by whomsoever, they may be infringed. 
After having been prodigal of blood and treasure to attain this high 
standing and having re-established our peace upon firm foundations, 
we find ourselves in full possession of every means of advancing our 
prosperity, which will be ever best promoted, in the first place, by 
cherishing our free institutions, shedding so benign an influence upon 
all our internal concerns, and, in the next, by cultivating friendly 
relations and a free trade with foreign nations, which alono can 
fill the measure of our good fortune. 



%0 

But the prospect of honorable gain to be acquired by industry, in 
the pursuits of agriculture and commerce, or in the exercise of the 
liberal professions, or mechanic arts does not suffice to some of the 
" choice spirits" who sojourn in our land : tired of the " dull pursuits 
-of civil life," they are anxious to find a royal road to wealth end do- 
minion; they snuff spoil and conquest in the gale; and the disturbed 
state of the colonies of Spain affords them a prospect of acquiring 
provinces or principalities by the sword, while her unprotected com- 
merce tempts the cupidity of the daring pirate. 

If rumor speaks the truth, some among these "choice spirits," have, 
of late, been found sufficiently careless of their own and country's re- 
putation, to unite their means with those of a few foreign adventur- 
ers, to lit out, in our ports, an expedition under a pretended authority 
from some revolted colony, against a neighboring province of a state 
with which we are at peace: while other " choice spirits," in concert 
with the first, have been fitting out vessels, to proceed to this chosen 
port of refuge, thereto be commissioned, and thence to cruize upon the 
high seas against the property of the same nation; their prizes are to be 
brought back to the same spot, there to be condemned, and sold to pur- 
chasers who could have no other object than tne design of the clan- 
destine introduction of the booty, whether consisting of merchandize 
or slaves, into the United States, the only market accessible to them. 

It is thus that the American people, composed of *' nine millions of 
individuals, of whom the immense majority breathes only sentiments 
of honor, of justice, and of peace," is in danger of having disgrace 
brought upon its name, by the rapaciousness of a few native or natur- 
alized citizens, " who are not ashamed to become pirates, in order to 
amass riches." 

Should this be permitted ? Shall this license be given, thus suffer- 
ing our citizens to be diverted from the direct course of honest indus- 
fry and honorable exertion, could it even be done without subjecting 
the nation to incur the disgrace and responsibility attendant upon its 
permitting these aberrations from the path of honor and duty? 

It may be objected, that (apart from all consideration of praise or 
blame, in a moral point of view) every individual has a natural right, 
at his proper risk and upon his own responsibility, to engage in any 
similar euterprize which may seem to promise to be advantageous to 
himself. This might be admitted, if we could suppose an individual 
existing in a state of nature, or of total independence, (which can 
scarce be more than a mere fiction of imagination.) But the question 
respecting the supposed right which a citizen of these United States 
may possess in relation to this matter, may be stated in the following 
manner: 

It appears obvious, that no citizen can have a right to go to war on 
his own authority, because, if tiny citizen had such a right, every ci^ 
tizen must huve a similar on*, and the tuition, composed of all the ci- 
tizens', would have a right to go to war upon the authority of its indi- 
vidual citizens. Kow, the power of declaring war is, by our constitu- 
tion, vested in the assembled (Jongnss of the United States. If, there- 
fore, it were permitted to the individual ciliz us to go to War at their 
discretion, the anomaly might be produced, of the citizens of a nut ion 
being at war, while their government should be at peace. Hence it 
follows, as a rigorous consequence, that a citizen Kfling 1 to war of his 
own authority, does that which he has no right t>» do, and commits aa 
offence against his country, for which he ahould »e punished. x 
1 / 



2b 

But it is'pretended, that tlie citizen, if it suits his convenience, should 
he permitted to divest himself of the character of a subject of a parti- 
cular country which is at peace, in order to go to war upon the autho- 
rity of the state to which he may chuse to transfer his allegiance. In 
ease of actual emigration, with other concurrent acts, manifesting the 
intention of becoming the subject of another power, he would have 
some colorable claim to do whatever the subjects of that power may 
lawfully do ; but the right is not admitted upon principles of general 
law, whatever.mitigation the usage of nations may have introduced in 
the infliction of the penalties ensuing upon such an act. As it cannot 
ha lawful for a citizen to go to war on his own authority, so neither 
can he derive any authority for so doing under a commission from any 
power, other than that of the government to which he owes allegi- 
ance, because in so doing he commits an offence against his country, 
which is at peace with the belligerent nations, and the law does not 
admit the perpetration of a crime to be tantamount to the divestment 
of the character of citizen the effect of which would be, the with- 
drawal of criminals, from its coercion. The traitor, for instance, could 
never be punished, if the treasonable act should have the effect of 
discharging him from his obligations to his country. 

The government of the United States has, therefore, a right to pun» 
ish the offence committed by the citizen who makes war upon a nation 
with whom they are at peace ; and, that it is bound by the laws of na- 
tions, and the rules of neutrality, to restrain its eitiz> ns, and foreign- 
ers, inhabiting its territories, from committing acts of hostility against 
nations with whom it is at peace, and to prohibit armaments being 
prepared in its ports with the same object, may appear from the fol- 
lowing argument and authorities. 

The most enlightened and approved writers upon international law, 
assert, that a nation ought not to augment its power or its riches by 
illicit means. Every dishonest orunpsst action is, of course, forbidden, 
whatever advantages would be immediately derived from it. And 
when even a good and desirable end ean only he attained by illegal 
means, it should be considered as unattainable and be abandosed. It 
is contended by these writers, in treating ©f the just causes of war 7 
"'that a nation is not permitted to attack another nation, with a view 
of aggrandizement from its subjugation; because this'would be like an 
individual endeavoring to enrich himself by seizing on the goods of 
another." See Vattel, b. 1, chap. 14-, sec. 184-. How much less, 
then, is it admissible for a nation, at peace with another, to permit 
its citizens to avail themselves of the advantages of their position, 
and of the circumstances in which their neighbors may be placed, 
hv reason of civil war, or other causes of a defenceless state, 
and to wage a war of plunder upon the high seas, or otherwise, against 
those who are void of offence to their assailants, and whose only fault 
is their weak and defenceless condition ? In permitting its citizens to 
act in this manner, a state would be not less wanting in the perform- 
ance of its duties towards itself than towards other states, " for the 
sales of prudence and policy will ever be found conformable to those 
of justice.'' Ibid, sec. 185. 

Such conduct could not fail to tarnish the reputation of the country 
which, should tolerate it; and the care of its reputation is one of 
the most important duties of a government. " True glory consists 
in deserving the good opinion of the wise and enlightened: a nation 
may merit it by a ehutye title. 1st. By what it performs as a body 



27 

politic, by (he ministry of those who direct its affairs. 2d, By the 
individual conduct of the citizens constituting the state." ibid. sec. IS 1 ?. 

In both these views we should be wanting in due respect to ourselves, 
if we permitted citizens to cruize against any nation with whom 
we are at peace. Every good citizen will, of course, find a motive 
for abstaining from a shameful act, in the fear of the dishonor which 
must be reflected upon his country; and " the government should not 
suffer its (wicked) citizens to perpetrate crimes capable of bringing 
reproach upou the nation, or even of tarnishing its honor: it has a 
perfect right to repress and to punish scandalous actions which do a 
real injury to the state." Ibid, sec. 189. 

If it be a duty, on the part of a government, to protect its citizens 
against all injury from foreign states or people, so it is no less its 
duty to prevent its citizens from doing injury to the subjects of a fo- 
reign state. 

" If a state which could restrain its citizens should suffer them to 
violate the rules of justice and peace, and injure a foreign nation in its 
body politie or in its members, in this ease the wrong may be consi- 
dered as coming from the nation itself; the good of the state, as well 
as that of society at large, requires it should be so considered. If 
you give licence to your citizens to attack foreign nations, these will 
retaliate upon you, and, instead of that society of brotherhood, which 
should naturally prevail amongst mankind, nothing will be found but 
a frightful robbery between nations." Idem. b. 2, chap. 6, sec. 72. 

Such are the general principles laid down by this writer upon the 
subject of the duties of a government in restraining its citizens from 
committing depredations upon the subjects of foreign powers. He 
goes on to state another case : 

"That is when a nation is considered guilty of the crimes perpe- 
trated by its members. When, by its manners and morals, and the 
maxims of its government, it accustoms and authorizes its citizens to 
pillage and maltreat strangers, to make predatory incursions upon 
its neighbors, &c. Thus the nation of Usbeck Tartars was guilty of 
all the robberies committed by the individuals composing it; the 
states whose subjects were plundered and murdered, and whose 
territories were infested by these marauders, might justly accuse the 
whole nation as guilty ; nay, more — nations have the right of uniting 
their forces against such a people — of repressing them, and treating 
them as enemies of humankind. The states of Christendom would be 
justified in forming a league against the Barbary powers, and in 
suppressing those retreats of sea robbers, (q) with whom the love 
of plunder, or the fear of just punishment, are the only rules of peace 
or war. But those pirates are prudent enough to respect those who 
would be most capable of chastising them; and those nations who 
know how to keep open to themselves the channels of a rich commerce, 
are not sorry that those channels should be closed upon others." Vat- 
tel, b- 2, chap. 6, see. 78. 

In the event of our government failing to use all the means in its 
power " to protect and defend the vessels and ettvets of nations with 
whom we are at peace, in our ports or waters, or on the sea near our 
shores, and to recover and restore the same to the right owners, when 

(?) This sentiment is peculiarly applicable to the recent establishments in our 
vicinity, (at GaJvezton and Amelia) which have hmen b.rokrn up by our gov- 
ernment 



>•> 



taken from them," and even to extend this rule il to captures ma«e 
upon the high seas, and brought into our ports, if done by vessels 
which had been armed within them," the President considered it as 
incumbent upon the United States to make compensation. See the 
letter of Mr. Secretary Jefferson to Mr Hammond, dated September 
5th, 1793. 

(t If nil the means in our power should be used to eause restitu- 
tion, and fail, then we should not be bound, by our treaties, to make 
compensation." Id. ib. 

It is evident, from the above quotations, that the United States are 
bound by the double obligation resulting from the general principles of 
international law, and from special stipulation with several of the 
foreign powers with whom we are at peace, not to suffer the fitting 
out of privateers in our ports to cruize against their subjects. It is 
a necessary consequence, that if our government should be negligent 
in taking sucvi measures as are within its power effectually to repress 
such fuses, whether the neglect proceed from the remissness of <he 
executive officers, or from the i»icffi iency of ;he existing laws, (in 
wh;ch case the respsnsibility will rest with the legislative branches of 
the government) the nation will be subjected to a just claim for in- 
demnities on the part of the subje ts of the foreign governments whose 
property maybe taken by these piratical ennzers. 

To show to what, extent such practices are likejjr to be carrieil un- 
less timely repressed, it is only necessary to take up the little volume 
of documents communicated to Congress by the Executive, upon a 
call from that body for information upon the subject of the establish- 
ments at Gulvezton and Amelia Island, which subsisted only a few 
months. The letters are chiefly from civil or military- officers of the 
United States, with the exception of one or two, which are from citi- 
zens of high respectability, and are, therefore, all worthy of the most 
entire credit. The substance of them may be briefly stated as fol- 
lows : The American consul at St. Thomas's states, that a great 
number of American seamen claim his aid on account of the, ill suc- 
cess of the privateers ant! pirates which infest those seas : from this it 
is evident that a number of those persons must enter into this service, 
as unprofitable as it is unprincipled. He then asserts that American 
vessels- have ber* deterred form prosecuting their voyages to the 
Spanish Main, from ihc dread of those same piratical cruizers, while 
the English trade was unmolested in the snine quarter, on account of 
the protection afforded by their vessels of war. The next extracts 
are from letters of the collector of the port of New-Orleans, who gives, 
at some length, the history of the establishment at Galvexton. He 
states, that many captures are made by cruizers from that place, 
which are many of them owned by citizens of the United States, and 
that the cargoes of their prizes are usually smuggled into the United 
States. It is specified that G. Champlin, of New-York, had taken 
prizes with his vessel, the General Artigas, and carried them into 
Galvezton ; that the Lafittes own privateers sailing under the Mexi- 
canjlag, and many others of our citizens are known to own the same 
kind of vessels ; that an American schooner, and a Portuguese and a 
Spanish vessel are made prizes by a certain Capt. Guy Joly ; that the 
Bay of Mexico is likely to become 7znsafe for any flag ; that all the 
cruizes of these privateers commence and end at NewOrleans ; that 
their force is augmented in our waters ; that, their crews are taken on 
board there, and that they thence proceed on cruizes, during which 



they commit hostilities against nations with which the United Stai?a 
are at. peace. That numbers of persons have no other occupation or 
mode, of livelihood than privateering, and violating our laws — That 
Aury's vessel, the Mexican Congress, was late the Calypso, of Batti- 
rrore. Three protects of masters of American vessels, rubbed by crui- 
sers under the flags of the patriots, are given, duly prove/I and au- 
thenticated. The Bue.xos Jlyves flag plunders th*i brig Freelove ; 
a Mexican privateer plunders the Pomona ; and two American ves- 
sels are robbed under the Venezuelan Bag. There is an account 
of General M'Gregor granting a commission to John Morrison^ 
an American citizen. There is also the history of John Sm'dk> 
the boatswain of the. brig Freelove. who informed the privateersmea 
of the specie on hoard «f his employer's vessel, of which she was 
ribbed in consequence 3 and who also informed against the Pomona, 
and causes her co be. robbed. This same John Smith, it seems, was 
afterwards commissioned by General M'Gregor, and commands the 
schooner Hornet, which had cleared out from Philadelphia in August 
as the Traveller, received on board arms and men iu the Delaware, 
near Lewis! own, and in September, having assumed the name of tha 
Hornet, went to cruize oft' the Havana, and in a few days made two 
prizes. 

£uch is, in very f>w wordf. the account in part of the contents of 
this little volumeftwhich particularises many outrages committed, 
upon the rights of property and the laws of nations, and which proves 
that merchandise to a large amount, and that a considerable number 
of slaves have been smuggled into the United States, both from Gal- 
veston and Amelia Island. Jt also shews that the Pseudo-Patriots of 
Fernandina were one day Americans and the next Fioridians ; that 
there were to be found among them natives or subjects of all nations 
except Spain or Spanish America ; and that their true and sole ob- 
ject was booty. 

A very little reflection upon the tale thus unfolded, may enable us 
to understand the true causes of the disinterested sympathy felt and so 
loudly expressed by some (I hope but few) of those who rail against 
the suppression of these piratical posts ; we may learn too to appreci- 
ate correctly the laudable motives of the preteu;l:d devotion of that 
description of persons to the independence of South America. The 
war to be waged with that ostensible object, must afford some oppor- 
tunities of enriching themselves to those who an; unprincipled enough 
to turn freebooters. With just as much sincerity, doubtless, do all the 
military adventurers from beyond the Atlantic feel the most ardent 
attachment to the liberties of the Southern continent. It is not, forsooth, 
the fame of the rich productions of the soil of those countries, nor of 
the contents of their inexhaustible mines, which attracts their hordes, 
hutachivaliie spirt, which leads them on to achieve the emancipation 
of the king and priest-ridden inhabitants of those climes ! Credat 
Judseus ! 

It mr>y well ex?ite our surprize, that practices like those above de- 
tailed, inflicting so much injury upon our own commerce, as well as 
upon that of nations with whom we are at peace, perpetrated, in a 
great measure, by our own citizens, under cover of a foreign flag, should 
have been so long tolerated. But, in the remoteness ofthe scene of 
depredation, as well as in the equivocal character given so carefully 
to the whole system, which was clocked under a pretended war, wag- 
ed against Spain by Iter revolted colonies, in which any interference 



30 

on our part would have appeared unbecoming us, to say the least of 
it — in these two considerations we may perceive the causes of the ap- 
parent indifference of our government to the interests of its citizens, 
as well as to the just rights of foreign powers. 

At length, however, we have seen our administration roused to 
take the necessary measures for the suppression of these establish- 
ments ;and the expression of the approbation of the country at large 
will be fully heard, when the mild voice of reason shall be no longer 
drowned in the clamors raised in some of the sea ports by the pri- 
vateering faction ; and when the great agricultural and commercial 
interests shall be fully informed of the grounds of the procedure, we 
may safely predict, that the measure must receive the undivided sup- 
port of all the disinterested and unimpassioned part of the communi- 
ty. It is obvious that the Executive has only performed its duty. It 
remains for the Legislative branches of our government to adhere 
steadfastly to such regulations as have been deemed necessary, and 
"which, I trust, will prove effectual to enable the Executive to main- 
tain a strict and impartial neutrality, in the trying situation in whieh 
the uncertain condition of the neighboring countries places us. It 
was well to arm the Executive with such authority as might be suf- 
ficient to prevent our being drawn in, howsoever unwilling, as parties 
to a war, m the event of which we can have but a remote, and, in my 
estimation, a very doubtful interest. 

PHQCIOJV. 



Lb D '10 



